Snake
by SilverWolf7
Summary: Crowley tries to save a snake from a pet shop.  When he thinks he succeeds, something unexpected happens and guilt sneaks up on him.  Aziraphale tells him something about snakes he didn't know to cheer him up.


Disclaimer - I don't own any characters in this except the snake and the shopkeeper of the pet shop. The snake I'll keep, lol, the shopkeeper can burn. And will if Crolwey has anything to say on the matter, in Hell.

Notes - Wow...I just can't stay away from Crowley angst it seems. But hey, it suits him. The book may be funny, but I think that his character was kind of...serious. Ah well. This ones about guilt. And short lived guilt at that. Hope you all enjoy. Oh, and while I may really like snakes, I have never before had one as a pet (I want to read a bit more about looking after one before I take that leap, but I know a breeder who will give me one for a discount price.) So if anything with parts about habitats in this is wrong, it is my fault entirely.

Snake

The shop was lighter than it should have been, except for in this corner where it was dark, and the glass cage held one extremely sorry-looking snake. Crowley had been staring at it for the past half hour, ignoring the pet shop owner who was babbling on next to him about the looking after and feeding of a pet snake.

"Did you know that a snake can't close its eyes at all, because they don't have eyelids?" the shop owner stated, seeming quite smug in his superior knowledge.

Crowley turned around and glared. It would probably have been a lot more effective without the glasses on, but he didn't care. This man wa a complete idiot, and he wasn't very good with snakes. The poor thing looked sick, couldn't he tell?

"I don't like seeing people mistreating snakes. How much is it worth?" Before the man could answer, he snapped his fingers, wiped the guys memory of ever owning a snake (he had seen the 'no sale' sign a second after asking) and gently lifted it out of the cage it was in. He left without another word, his living cargo now wrapped around his wrist, pushing itself as flat as it could get against his skin. Scales were too cold again his warm skin, and he scowled.

"Did you know that snakes need the sun, or at least a bright light to keep their blood warm, as they are cold-blooded creatures?" he said sarcastically under his breath in mimicry of the owner of the shop. He remembered that well, and what it was like to sun oneself on a heated rock. Honestly, humans should try it sometime, it felt good.

Even though it was a reasonably warm day he put his jacket on, making sure that it covered the reptile and would keep it warm until he got home.

He did some quick willful thinking on the spot and when he got home, he found a suitable habitat waiting for the snake near the windows. May his new little pal keep the houseplants company. He slowly lowered the animal into the warm cage and left it lying on the rock inside. Well, it would just have to do until he could set it free.

The next morning, he knew that it was dead as soon as he looked at it. It was on the rock and the light keeping it warm was still on. Crolwey closed his eyes and shook his head. It had been to the point of freezing to death when he had taken it, and yet it had boiled inside.

"Stupid creature," he muttered slightly to the unmoving mass in the habitat and picked it carefully up. He would bury it and get rid of the cage later.

He found a nice little patch of dirt on the roof, dug a hole only big enough for it to go in, and covered it up. He went back to his flat and begun to clean things up with his hands. It just didn't feel right to just wish everything away like he normally would.

He felt odd. Normally he would go out and do something to cheer himself up a bit, but he didn't want to right now. He felt miserable, he felt lonely...he felt guilty. He shook his head again, throwing the rock in the bin he had in the kitchen and left his flat again, heading for his car.

The angel would tell him to stop being silly and to stop thinking it was his fault, but it had been. Perhaps the snake hadn't really been that mistreated. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken it at all. Perhaps he should have turned off the light before going to bed. He sighed and tried to think of why all these reasons could be truth, but failed. The snake truly had been in a bad way when he had taken it, and therefore he should have taken it away form a cruel master. He had left the light on to keep the rock warm for when the snake needed it to be there to warm itself upon. He hadn't known, and couldn't have known that it wouldn't move from the rock and bake itself to death.

His thoughts were interrupted as he stopped the car and found himself outside a Soho bookshop that was just as familiar to him than his flat was. He got out and walked into the shop, the bell merrily jingling as he entered and stopped. Aziraphale looked up at him with a slight frown, which disappeared into a smile when he noticed who it was.

"Crowley! What are you doing here?"

Crowley looked back at the door and noticed that for once the shop seemed to be open. He took a few minutes before answering, just in case someone walked in. "Should I feel guilty? Why do I feel guilt?" he asked, walking over to lean against the counter Aziraphale was behind.

"Guilt for walking into the shop while it is open for once, or guilt on another matter?" Aziraphale asked, his voice holding a curiosity that always made Crowley twitch with nerves.

"Something else. Why would I feel guilty about walking into your shop when it is open?"

"Because normally you wait until you can open the door while it is locked," came the angel's reply and Crowley cringed. Alright, he should have seen that one coming. But now he would have to tell Aziraphale about the snake.

"I kind of...stole a snake from the pet shop yesterday. It was sick and too cold and kept in horrible condition and I just wanted to make it better then set it free again. I don't like seeing people mistreating snakes..."

"Well, that was very nice of you, saving it and all, though why not just buy it?"

"It wasn't for sale!" Crowley snapped, before calming himself down and continuing with his rant. "I made it a proper habitat and put it inside and just went about doing normal activities for the rest of the day, thinking that it would be set free in a couple of days. I left the light on during the night and wnet to sleep. It was...kind of dead when I woke up. It had stayed on the rock I made for it under the light and kind of baked itself..."

"Oh, the poor thing! Why did it do that?"

Crowley glared. "I don't know! Animals hate me, maybe thats why. Or maybe it was just too hurt or ill to move, in which case I should have moved it off the rock before going to bloody bed."

Aziraphale came to the side of the counter he was leaning on and lifted his head so he could look in the general direction of his eyes. When that failed, the angel took off his sunglasses. He looked away, trying to avoid that blue gaze. "Look at me, Crowley."

Reluctantly he raised his eyes, not wanting to see what Aziraphale thought of this. He may be evil, he may like to mess about with poeople and try to get souls to sign up for Hell, but that was a job. Some of it may be fun, but it wasn't something that gave him pleasure in other parts. And he had never been a killer.

"I don't think it was your fault. You tried saving it, not hurting it. You once were a snake, you know how much temperature means to a cold-blooded creature and you said it was ill. Sometimes reptiles give themselves a fever to combat illness and sometimes don't have the strength afterwards to move. It was just an accident."

Crowley's eyes lit up at that. "Really? I don't get sick and I wouldn't really know much about it in snakes. But...you really think it was an accident?"

Aziraphale smiled and nodded. Crowley smiled back. "Thanks," he replied to the gesture, "I feel better now." He turned to leave, but stopped, curiosity creeping up on him. "Er, Aziraphale? How come you know more about snakes than I do?"

Aziraphale blushed slightly but grinned at him. "I read a lot, Crowley."

Thinking that one through would take a while, Crolwey thought, though he knew that the answer he was looking for was in the short answer. With a slight shrug, he left Aziraphale to his shop and business and went towards downtown London. He was in the mood now for a bit of cheerful temptation.


End file.
